Pacman: Floyd is ‘all talk’

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao must have had enough of Floyd Mayweather Jr. calling him a “has-been.”

Pacquiao said Mayweather, the undefeated American, is all talk.

“Sa atin, nayayabangan tayo di ba? (To us, it’s being boastful, right?),” Pacquiao told cable news channel ANC in an exclusive interview the other day. 

“Siya, puro salita (He’s all talk),” added Pacquiao, referring to Mayweather, who recently called Pacquiao a “has-been” following two straight losses.

Over the last couple of years, there were efforts to put up the fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather, two of the great boxers of this generation.

But on each occasion, the talks bogged down because issues concerning drug-testing and money matters.

Pacquiao and Mayweather, as well as their respective promoters,  can’t seem to agree on anything and put the fight which is or was bound to break all existing records in boxing.

Mayweather, undefeated in 44 fights, is already 36 while Pacquiao, his record down to 54-5-2 following back-to-back defeats to Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez, is 34.

They are facing separate foes before the year ends, and if they don’t get the fight done soon, perhaps they never will because either they’re too old or the public will no longer care.

Pacquiao, in a very rare show of emotion, blamed Mayweather for the fight not happening.

“Kung kasali yung bunganga sa boxing eh di magsalita na lang ng magsalita. Kaya lang hindi kasali sa taas ng ring eh,” he said

Pacquiao said he’s just waiting for Mayweather to call the fight than call him names.

“Ayaw na lang sabihin na ‘Let’s fight.’ Puro na lang salita,” said Pacquiao, who will face Brandon Rios in Macau on Nov. 24 in a fight he can no longer afford to lose.

Even Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, said if Pacquiao gets knocked out by Rios or he feels that Pacquiao doesn’t have it anymore, he will be the one to pull the plug.

“The minute I think he doesn’t have it, when I see that he’s not the Manny Pacquiao of old, I’ll tell him that’s it,” said Roach who, however, insisted that’s not the case. 

“I don’t think he’s at that point, and I think you’ll see him look good in this one, but this is a very important fight for him,” Roach told Yahoo! Sports.

Pacquiao, the only boxer in history to win world titles in eight different weight classes, thinks so, too.

“Hindi pa ako laos (I’m not a has-been),” he told ANC.

“Kaya ko pa magpanalo ng mga laban (I can still win fights). He (Mayweather) is all talk,” said Pacquiao.

While he admitted defeat against Marquez, the congressman of Sarangani in Mindanao said he just got caught by a lucky punch.

“Ang pagkatalo natin nastambahan lang tayo (The way we lost was a fluke). Hindi talaga yung binubugbog tayo tapos na-knockout tayo.  Wala naman (It’s not like we were being roughed up and we were knocked out),” he said.

“Natsambahan tayo. Tayo ang nangbubugbog tapos na-lucky punch tayo (We had the upperhand when we got caught by a lucky punch), which is part of the game,” Pacquiao added.

Pacquiao is out to prove Mayweather wrong.